9/12/17 Whatcom County Council meeting: Please come speak at open session RE the need to send the CAO back for more review / Facebook post, Whatcom Hawk, Wendy Harris

Posted on by

council agenda 091217

3 hrs  September 11, 2017  Wendy Harris

I have been informed that “Liberty Road” has invited private property rights advocates to swarm the County Council Public Hearings and Open Session tomorrow night. Among the purported offenses are public hearings for an Ordinance amending Whatcom County Code 8.13, Solid Waste Disposal District, regarding the Solid Waste Excise Privilege Tax (AB2017-244) and an Ordinance amending Whatcom County Code Title 20 Zoning and the Whatcom County Comprehensive Plan relating to cumulative impervious surface coverage standards (AB2017-195). Continue reading →

Tell the County Council to Send the CAO Back For Revision / Facebook post, Whatcom Hawk, Wendy Harris

Posted on by

WAC critical areas

August 16, 2017  Wendy Harris  Action

The [Whatcom] county staff and council are not including the proper legal standard for CAO [Critical Areas Ordinance] protection. We must protect critical areas and the ecosystems in which they are located against a net loss of ecological function and value. Instead, the county limits review to critical areas to the development site, and maybe a short distance beyond (I am not sure if this has been changed.)

Tell the county to follow the law. Continue reading →

Cherry Point Amendments and Critical Areas Ordinances need to reflect measures to protect orcas / Letter to Whatcom County Council, Dena Jensen

Posted on by

scientists shipping noise herald

April 15, 2016  Dena Jensen

Dear Whatcom County Council:

I am sending this email for you to earnestly consider during your review of the Cherry Point Amendments to Whatcom County’s Comprehensive Plan and the Critical Areas Ordinance. The information below is why it is critical that expanded vessel shipping going anywhere out of Cherry Point is, at this time particularly, unacceptable.  Thus, this is another reason it is critical that the County include the study in the Cherry Point Amendments that will help the County find legal ways to limit the export of unrefined fossil fuels, above current levels, out of Cherry Point. Continue reading →

Planning Commission, With Help From Friends In Ag, Undermine Court Required Compliance With Hirst Decision / Facebook Post, Whatcom Hawk, Wendy Harris

Posted on by
personius impervious hirst 04052017

Click the graphic above to view the full April 5, 2017 Memorandum from Gary Davis,  Whatcom County Senior Planner, “Impervious Surface and Animal Husbandry Proposals”

4 hrs  April 9, 2017  Wendy Harris

While the county continues to seek state legislative fixes to the Hirst decision, and at all costs avoid its obligation to actually plan, the county is still under a court imposed obligation to come into compliance with the GMA, and protect rural water quality and quantity. (Yes, somehow with all the hysterical theatrics that surrounds this decision, it is easy to forget that it is, after all, a GMA compliance case). Continue reading →

Thank you for approving the interim moratorium for Cherry Point and other things regarding the Cherry Point Amendments / Letter to Whatcom County Council, Dena Jensen

Posted on by

interim moratorium agenda bill

March 29, 2017  Dena Jensen

Last week Whatcom County Council voted 6-1, Council Member Brenner opposed, to approve the “ordinance imposing an interim moratorium on the acceptance and processing of applications and permits for new or expanded facilities in the Cherry Point Urban Growth Area, the primary purpose of which would be the shipment of unrefined fossil fuels not to be processed at Cherry Point.”  I wanted to write this week to thank them for approving the moratorium. Continue reading →

General Overview of Problems With Critical Area Ordinance / Facebook post, Whatcom Hawk, Wendy Harris

Posted on by

council-linked-page-to-cao

10 hrs  February 22, 2017  Wendy Harris

Will the council approve a Critical Area Ordinance (CAO) that does not comply with the GMA? It is looking more and more likely. I am sick to my stomach thinking that after just one “general issues” work session, council will be ready to vote on the updated Critical Area Ordinance. It really did not help that few people participated, but how could they when there was no real training provided on such a technical issue? Perhaps if the CAO was not improperly separated from the Comp. Plan update, it would have been easier to obtain public input. Continue reading →

Why Was County Staff Not Disclosing Relevant CAO Information?/ Letter to Whatcom County Council, Facebook post, Whatcom Hawk, Wendy Harris

Posted on by

hi-res-study-wdfw

5 hrs  January 10, 2017  Wendy Harris
Dear County Council,
As you are aware, it is a fatal flaw in the CAO that the county lacks baselines standards to help measure and monitor the county’s success in meeting no net loss standards. Thus, I had begun reviewing this information on my own in an attempt to help the county better achieve GMA compliance. Continue reading →

The CAO Presentation To County Council / Facebook post, Whatcom Hawk, Wendy Harris

Posted on by

 

 

Yesterday at 3:17am  September 21, 2016  Wendy Harris

At the staff presentation to the county council on the Critical Area Ordinance, staff provided their goals and proposed changes (why are they making changes now?) without explaining how the CAO worked or how the new proposals fit into the CAO requirements. They skipped any mention of the Critical Aquifer Recharge Areas, and only mentioned farm plans with regard to an suggestion for an annual report. I felt this left the council and public uninformed. Continue reading →